Animation Forum West Midlands

"No, because I'm not aware of any apart from the Animation Forum," says Dom. "We have to work really hard to pay for everything at the end of the day, and get no funding from anybody. Although having said that, we did have training paid for by Screen WM a few years ago. It's tough and there's just no time left to search for these schemes, because you have to sleep sometimes! So it'd be nice if [funders] were to seek you out, rather than you have to seek them."

"It's hard to get noticed," adds Paul, "You have to work hard to find the work first, do the work second, and then find more work whilst you're doing the work! It can be difficult to pop your head above the horizon and see what's out there and if anyone can help you. We've noticed before that some people can get so hooked up in trying to find funding or help, that the company actually suffers, because they're spending time away from the work that actually pays for everything. If something was more prominent I wouldn't say it'd be a bad thing."

Without shoe-horning in too much shameless self-promotion, EESB are currently polishing off an animation tender they found through the Animation Forum WM jobs newsletter; an animated demonstration of a possibly world-changing scientific process proposed by the Cquestrate project, which in theory has the potential to reduce all carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels.

"It's basically 2D animation with elements of 3D," says Paul. "It's a very simple stylised instruction manual, taking you though the process of how to do what they want to do, and how it could be possible. Feedback so far has all been very positive." Once completed, the animation is expected to do the rounds on the national news programmes as the 'open source' project gathers pace.

EESB are actually based next door to another visual production studio, @Warblefly Productions, rather than compete for the same projects, this move was apparently a "bit strategic," according to Dom, allowing EESB to even share workloads with their neighbouring studio. "It's good because we're feeding each other work and we're still separate companies. We each have our own ideas as well, so you can bounce ideas off each other for concepts or ways of doing things."

This co-operative method of working seems utterly at odds with the usual ruthless nature of business, but it seems to work. With EESB often post-producing @Warblefly's larger projects, who then help out Paul and Dom out with filming where needed. One such collaboration was the stop-frame animated Diplo music video, where @Warblefly ran the production, with Ben Lister as Director, and Paul was brought in as animation supervisor.

"It's good for the economy," says Paul. "We're not just ploughing all the money into ourselves; we're helping other people, and using the right person with the right skills for the right job. Warren [Haughey, Creative Director of @Warblefly] is a damn good Producer; he knows great Cameramen and Directors. I'm sure we could pick up a camera and do an okay job, but it's important to get the right people in for the work."

Although Eight Eyed Sea Bass's work now lies across the varied mediums of video, visual FX, animation and post-production, both Dominic and Paul took animation-related courses at University, at a time when studying the practice often meant taking "multimedia courses with animation thrown in as an afterthought." Although heavily criticising the way their particular university treated animation at the time, Dominic still draws positives from the experience, "The good thing was that all the students got together and shared knowledge and started working together. So we actually taught ourselves and each other."

But what of the next generation? Does EESB provide work experience for up and coming animators looking to hone their craft to a professional level? Well, 'yes' is the answer. "I went to an animation studio when I was 15, but half the time I spent making teas and filing stuff," says Dom. "That's not what I consider to be work experience. It's not really teaching you anything useful. So for the work experience kids we've taken on in the past, we prefer to give them a project – even if it's a fictional project, with a brief and a deadline, and then give them some feedback and say how they've done. We did say that after our crap time at Uni, we wanted to try and give something back, so are happy to take on work experience, projects allowing."

The pair's frustration at their academic experience is mirrored by the basic flaws they spot in student and recent graduate showreels. "Even if they're just moving an object from point A to point B, it tends to move without any acceleration, it just suddenly shoots off and stops dead," explains Dom. "There's no ease in / ease out of any movement, which is quite an essential thing with animation. It's quite a small detail, but it shows up quite a lot, and you wonder, have they not been taught or even read about that if they're 19-21?"

Paul meanwhile, offers a more concise checklist: "The things like I look for in a showreel are; decent motion blur, no hard shadows, and no foot slippage."

So what does the future hold for Eight Eyed Sea Bass? Well, both Dominic and Paul have their eyes firmly set on the big screen. "We're sticklers for quality and attention to detail, and the place to show that is the big screen," says Dom, "If this feature film goes ahead and we get recognised for it, we could have a little team of people and aim to do one feature film every one or two years."

With the ever-increasing flexibility of the digital technologies gradually rendering physical location redundant, it'll be fascinating to see how studios such as Eight Eyed Sea Bass can perform on the national and international stage, a challenge that Paul Berner is more than aware of: "Long-term, our aim is to let people out there know that there is a place you can go to have top quality film and animation work done, and it's not London."